The Habit of Bravery

A few weeks ago, my family and I visited a water park. This park had some pretty wild attractions, and it had been a while since I'd been on a thrill ride of any kind. I loved them as a teen and young adult, and wouldn't even hesitate to ride them, no matter how wild. Sometimes before the ride was over, I'd question my sanity and try to make a deal with God if He'd get me out alive. The ride would come to a stop, I'd get off very much alive, then go get in line again. As we get older, we can start to not feel so enthusastic about these type of experiences. I started thinking, "Well, I might just hang out here in the pool with Libby, and let Jeremy and the big kids have their fun on the slides." But the more I thought about it, the more I decided that I was going to make myself do it. Lauren isn't quite the daredevil I was at her age, but does enjoy some of the bigger rides. I was talking her into getting on one particular slide, and I started explaining to her how much I used to love it, but how easy it was to become complacent, lazy, fearful, etc as you get older. I told her, "You have to practice the habit of bravery. It's a discipline. The more you do things outside your comfort zone, the braver you actually become." And I started thinking to myself, "Wow, that's just the plain truth." Sometimes we think it doesn't count if we aren't jumping out of planes or swimming with sharks, etc, but any time you step out beyond your level of comfort, you're showing yourself you can do hard and/or scary things. The more you do those things, the easier it gets. The easier it gets to be a risk taker in all the right ways. To put yourself out there. To go for that promotion. To get that degree. To make a move that could make a huge difference in your life. To allow someone to love you. To go to that audition. To listen to and obey God's voice when it doesn't make sense. Yes, bravery is a discipline and a habit. Exercise your courage like a muscle. Do it scared. But do it.